a few years ago, in the middle of my second advertising job, i realised that i hadn`t left trinidad for close to 10 years and i was in dire need of some inspiration. i was unhappy with the work that i was producing, so i decided that it would be a good idea to go on a hiatus, explore the wide world, well NY at least. i had never been as an adult and i figured if 6 weeks in the city that never sleeps didn`t fire the creative juices again, nothing would.
my friend sam, travel maven and born and bred new yorker, found me with a place to stay, held my hand for the first few days, then unleashed me on the city.
one of the coolest things about the trip was where i was staying, i lived in the east village, in an apartment cum art gallery cum performance space, know as a gathering of the tribes, run by steve cannon, i covered my room and board by interning for steve. the space, half a block from the nuyorican poets cafe was revolving door for a number of artists.
strangely i didn`t actually do any art, i spent my time running errands and learning the city. running a non-profit out of your apartment, means there isn`t much cash about, so i learned the joys of the nyc bus and subway system.
i`m not being facetious about the system, i enjoyed taking the buses and subway. i think i mastered the timing of it in about 2 weeks. i got flashed on the subway, actually having some sit across from you and masturbate hardly constitutes flashing.
one of the funny stories about my trip is a bar i found in the last three week i was there. i though i was spending too many evenings sitting around the apartment while steve was out, so i decided to explore the neighbourhood. i found a $3 cinema, which in turn lead me to this bar, which watching something eminently forgettable there was an ad for this bar with a dart board and red stripe.
what a lure for me, i own darts and had travelled with them and red stripe, it was a call to my jamaican ancestry. so after the movies, i trekked around the corner to the bar, funny thing, it was a country and western bar with red stripe and guinness on tap. with my short dreads i stood out like a sore thumb, but then nobody seemed quite at home at this bar, not the irish and english guys throwing darts, not the guys in cowboy hats. the bar tenders used to heckle me, cause i would come in, order a red stripe and put el paso on the juke and go throw my darts.
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